ICA Gruppen CEO says gained market share in October

Reuters Staff

1 Min Read

STOCKHOLM, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Swedish food retailer ICA Gruppen grew faster than the market in Sweden in the first month of the fourth quarter, its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday on the sidelines of the company’s capital markets day.

* CEO Per Stromberg said ICA Sweden took markets shares in October

* CEO said ICA wants to further strengthen its position in the Baltics and Lithuania is the most likely country for acquisitions

* CEO declined to comment on whether ICA is nearing a deal to buy Lithuanian grocery chain IKI. ICA said on Nov. 25, following media reports in Lithuania, tha tit had ongoing discussions with the owners of Palink over a potential acquisition of IKI

* CEO said ICA Gruppen has not been looking to buy Matse , owner of online grocery store mat.se. Rival Axfood said on Thursday it had made a 554 million crown ($59.6 million) cash offer for Matse (Reporting by Rebecka Roos, editing by Anna Ringstrom)